Saturday, May 26, 2007

To the Summit of the East we climb!Almost to the Summit of the East we climb!*

Tomorrow Laurette, Sam, and I will attempt the Mt. Mitchell Trail, hoping to reach the highest spot in the United States east of the Mississippi.

Sam has been inspired by reading Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air, and hiking Mt. Mitchell is something Laurette has been talking about for years. It'll be a challenge: a vertical gain of almost 3700 feet, trail "very rough," and the difficulty level "most difficult."

Wish us luck: pictures will follow.

I wonder if the park service provides Sherpas.

*After first posting this, I discovered that the very top of Mt. Mitchell is closed for construction of a new lookout tower. We'll end up 40 ft. short of the peak, but never mind that -- it's all about the journey!